# Becker, Minnesota *City in Sherburne County, Minnesota, and site of the Sherburne County Generating Station* Becker is a Sherburne County city between the Mississippi and Elk rivers. It lies roughly 46 miles northwest of [[Minneapolis]] and 19 miles southeast of [[St. Cloud]], and it had 4,877 residents at the 2020 census.[^1] Inside the city limits, [[Xcel Energy]] runs the [[Sherburne County Generating Station]] (Sherco), the largest coal-fired power plant in Minnesota.[^1] The plant's property taxes have carried the city's finances. Wikipedia records Sherco as 77% of Becker's tax base in 2019 and the source of two-thirds of the taxes generated for the city in 2023. It also states that, because of the plant's payments, Becker homeowners pay markedly lower property taxes than nearby communities.[^1] Proposals to close parts of the plant have circulated since 2015. In 2023, after lobbying the [[Minnesota Legislature]], the city obtained state aid in anticipation of lower plant tax receipts.[^1] The project's at-issue record lists Becker among the seven members of the [[Coalition of Utility Cities]], Minnesota towns built around power plants. It ranks Becker's dependence on its plant as the highest of the seven. The record cites the 2019 closure of two units at Cohasset, after which Cohasset's share of its city tax base fell from 69% to 55%, as "the precedent Becker was given."[^2] ## Who The city takes its name from George Loomis Becker, a state legislator.[^1] At the state level, Andrew Mathews represents the city in the [[Minnesota Senate]] and [[Shane Mekeland]] represents it in the [[Minnesota House of Representatives]]. Both men belong to the [[Republican Party of Minnesota]].[^1] Federally, the city falls within Minnesota's 6th congressional district, whose representative is [[Tom Emmer]].[^1] ## What Sherco, operated by Xcel Energy, is Minnesota's largest coal-fired power plant, and Xcel has announced plans to close its units by the end of the decade.[^1] In 2020 the [[Minnesota Pollution Control Agency]] (MPCA) identified Becker's zip code, 55308, as the state's largest single source of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions among air-permitted facilities.[^1] Northern Metals Recycling moved its operations to Becker after the MPCA ordered its Minneapolis operation shut down over high levels of air pollution.[^1] In late February 2020, firefighters responded to a fire at the company's Becker site. The fire was reported to have begun beneath a pile of cars, burned for several days, and led to school closures.[^1] ## When The town was platted in 1867, and a post office under the name Becker has operated since 1870.[^1] The following dates are recorded in Wikipedia:[^1] - 2015: proposals to close portions of Sherco begin. - 2019: Northern Metals Recycling relocates from Minneapolis to Becker. - February 2020: fire at Northern Metals Recycling. - 2020: the MPCA emissions listing for zip code 55308. - Late 2022: Google withdraws from a planned data center in Becker that would have made it one of Xcel Energy's largest customers. - 2023: the legislative aid described above. - February 12, 2024: [[Microsoft]] purchases 300 acres of the land originally planned for the [[Google]] site, for a data center with no announced timeline. ## Where The [[United States Census Bureau]] gives the city a total area of 9.1 square miles, including 0.45 square miles of water.[^1] Two routes, U.S. Highway 10 and Minnesota State Highway 25, share the main highway corridor through the city. County Road 23 (Sherburne Avenue) has its starting point in Becker.[^1] Many of the city's businesses sit along Highway 10.[^1] Amtrak's *Empire Builder* runs through the city on BNSF tracks without stopping; the closest station is about 20 miles northwest in St. Cloud.[^1] A proposed St. Cloud extension of the [[Northstar commuter rail]] line would add a Becker stop. In the meantime, the Northstar Link commuter bus between Big Lake and St. Cloud serves the city.[^1] ## How much According to Wikipedia, Sherco provided 77% of the city's tax base in 2019 and about two-thirds of the taxes generated for the city in 2023.[^1] The project's at-issue record, for comparison, gives Cohasset's share as 69% before and 55% after its two 2019 unit closures.[^2] For the 2023 state aid, the pack's sources do not name the bill, its sponsors, its votes, or the party that enacted it, so the record does not establish that signature.[^1] ## How many The 2020 census counted 4,877 residents, with a median age of 33.0 years.[^1] It recorded 1,726 households, 43.5% of which included children under 18, and 1,792 housing units, 3.7% of them vacant.[^1] The 2010 census counted 4,538 people in 1,526 households.[^1] Independent School District 726 serves the city and enrolls 2,697 students. The city maintains nine parks, the largest of them the Becker City Park at more than 100 acres.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The at-issue catalogue files the Becker–Cohasset comparison as entry AI-Sherburne-084. The entry is dated 2019 and ranked 84 in the section *III. The Tax Base Being Retired (61–85)*.[^2] It rests on a single record-kind source from the domain lrl.mn.gov, catalogued as the Sherburne energy brief.[^2] Its text names the seven utility cities: Becker, Cohasset, Granite Falls, Hoyt Lakes, Monticello, Oak Park Heights and Red Wing. It states that Becker's dependence is the highest of the seven and that Cohasset "went first."[^2] The catalogue pairs the entry with a March 2025 White House presidential action, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse*, as its anchor. The catalogue's stated reason for the pairing is that "the comparable case was on the record before the decision."[^2] The entry does not identify the decision it refers to, and the record here does not establish one.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Becker, Minnesota* (revision 1373542018, retrieved 2026-10-27) — location, history, government, Sherco tax-base shares, business chronology, MPCA emissions listing, Northern Metals fire, transportation and census figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becker,_Minnesota [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue catalogue, *AI-Sherburne-084*, section *III. The Tax Base Being Retired (61–85)* (2019 entry) — the entry's text on the seven utility cities, Becker's ranking and Cohasset's 2019 change from 69% to 55%. The entry draws on a source catalogued as the Sherburne energy brief (lrl.mn.gov), whose own URL is not in this pack. The URL below is the entry's listed anchor, a March 2025 White House presidential action, and does not itself contain these figures. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/